First Arrival at Ryūchi Cave

Having received the authorization slip from the Ninja Academy, Kakashi hurried home to pack his luggage, arrived in front of Orochimaru's house, and set out of the village together with him...

Along the way, Orochimaru paced himself to match Kakashi's speed, traveling for a while and resting for a while. The two of them took nearly two days.

Throughout the journey, the pair did not run into any cliché situations like bandits shaking people down or rogue ninja staging assassinations.

After all, Orochimaru exuded an icy, murderous aura, and the two wore Konoha hitai-ate on their heads. Konoha at this time was at the peak of its prestige, having just defeated a multitude of foes with a one-to-many ratio during the Second Shinobi World War. Anyone with ideas had to weigh things carefully. When the effort did not match the reward, only a fool would act, and fools did not live long in this turbulent era.

The location of Ryūchi Cave was at the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth, deeply hidden underground.

Up top was a sparsely populated village with a few scattered clusters of buildings. Judging by the villagers' attire, they did not look like ninja.

The Jugo Clan must have been born somewhere around here, Kakashi muttered silently to himself as he followed Orochimaru into a forest of fragmented rocks, making a few left and right turns before plunging headfirst into a bottomless cave.

The mouth of the cave was several people wide in a standing posture, looking very much as if it had been excavated by a massive snake. Not far into the cave entrance were a few corpses reduced to bare bones. Judging by their shapes, some were human while others belonged to various animals, and the skeletons were generally quite intact.

"These were all attracted here by the overflowing natural energy and then died here." Orochimaru indifferently explained the sight before them.

Walking up to this point, Kakashi focused his mind and could perceive that the air seemed to hold an invisible substance more abundant than the outside world.

As the two advanced step by step, this sensation grew increasingly distinct.

"Halt! This is the holy land of Ryūchi Cave, outsiders may proceed no further." Having walked deep into the subterranean depths, the view suddenly opened up as the two arrived at a relatively spacious area.

A sound suddenly drifted down from overhead. It turned out to be a colorful snake coiled around a stalactite.

"It's me, I'm here to see the White Snake Sage." Deep inside the borders of the Land of Wind, Orochimaru and Kakashi had draped windproof hoods over themselves. At that moment, Orochimaru pulled down the hood on his head, revealed his appearance, and casually glanced at the venomous snake tasked with guarding the entrance to Ryūchi Cave.

"So it is Lord Orochimaru. Please enter then; do you need me to go ahead and announce you?"

"No need, just stay right here."

"Understood, Lord Orochimaru."

The two continued onward, and various types of snakes appeared before their eyes, greatly broadening Kakashi's horizons. Just as they were about to enter the cave where the White Snake Sage resided, the two were blocked once more by Tagorihime, whose figure suddenly manifested out of thin air.

"Long time no see, Orochimaru-kun."

Tagorihime had a head of long green hair, wore a golden crown with a golden sphere on top, possessed golden vertically elongated pupils, red eye shadow extending down her nose, and pale skin. She wore a long white robe with a magatama-shaped green ornament at her chest, and had sharp teeth and a blue tongue.

"Elder Tagorihime, long time no see. This is my disciple, Hatake Kakashi, and also the new contractor of Ryūchi Cave. I'd like to take him to see the White Snake Sage."

"I am aware. The White Snake Sage has already given instructions, and even had me come out specifically to welcome you." With that, Tagorihime cast a meaningful gaze at the young boy standing behind Orochimaru. It had been many years since the White Snake Sage had proactively asked her to come out and welcome guests; the last one had been Orochimaru during his youth. Back then, he had tracked his way to Ryūchi Cave all the way by using a summoned white snake's shedding skin, and had been greeted by Tagorihime with a personal audience granted by the White Snake Sage herself.

After so many years, what was so special about this disciple of Orochimaru that could make the White Snake Sage treat him thus?

Walking into the cave, Kakashi laid eyes upon the incomparably massive white-phosphorus giant snake atop the high platform.

Its body contained extremely powerful natural energy, and its white torso seemingly merged into one with the high platform that supported it, or perhaps its body was simply too massive, obscuring the platform altogether.

Atop its entirely pale scales was a head of orange hair tied with a purple silk headband, the front of which was embedded with a military-green horn-shaped ornament. The top of its head was embedded with a red luminous pearl, while a pair of yellow pupils beneath it exuded a bizarre and terrifying aura. The White Snake Sage held a smoking pipe in her mouth, and two golden rings adorned her tail, yet somehow it all looked slightly out of place.

Seated and attending below were the other two elders of Ryūchi Cave, named Ichikishimahime and Tagitsuhime.

"You've come, Orochimaru, and you too, Hatake Kakashi." The White Snake Sage, who had just seemed as though her mind were wandering beyond the clouds, finally returned to her senses and greeted the two.

"Long time no see, White Snake Sage. With your mighty power, there is no need to reiterate our purpose here. I kindly ask that you grant our request." Toward this ancient monster who had lived for thousands of years, Orochimaru's attitude remained extremely respectful. Although he had never witnessed the peak strength of the legendary First Hokage Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, from the sparse records scattered across various documents in the village, Orochimaru had shrewdly arrived at a conclusion.

Among the three holy lands, the strength of the hidden ancient monsters was so formidable that even the First Hokage would consider himself inferior. As for the Slug Sage of Shikkotsu Forest, the First Hokage's judgment was that even with Madara Uchiha by his side, victory over her within Shikkotsu Forest was not guaranteed.

On the way here, during their rests, Orochimaru had also shared some precautions regarding Ryūchi Cave with Kakashi, among which were his speculations concerning the White Snake Sage's strength.

As for Kakashi, he clearly knew that the sages of the three holy lands had all survived from the era of Kaguya. The Slug Sage of Shikkotsu Forest had even existed before Kaguya, possessing immensely powerful personal strength, though unfortunately, due to some unknown reason, her true body could not leave Shikkotsu Forest.

"I saw you in those faintly visible fragments of the future, Kakashi. You are the boy who will master the brand-new Sage Mode of Ryūchi Cave, the wind that will blow across the Shinobi World. I look forward to the arrival of that wind." The White Snake Sage's pupils gazed deeply at Kakashi, staring until he felt thoroughly ill at ease.

"Go, Tagorihime. From here on, you will teach Kakashi to master Senjutsu."

"White Snake Sage, may I stay and watch from the side? After all, Kakashi is my disciple. As you know, the process of learning Senjutsu is extremely dangerous." Orochimaru did not forget his original intent in coming.

"You need not worry, Orochimaru. Although this disciple of yours will walk a path vastly different from those of his predecessors, the fragments of the future clearly tell me that his cultivation of Senjutsu will not encounter any major setbacks." Perceiving the worry in Orochimaru's heart, the White Snake Sage spoke up.

"In that case, I will head back first, and come pick him up after a while." Orochimaru found it slightly strange that the White Snake Sage wanted to avoid him, but given her status, she would not deliberately send him away out of a plot to harm Kakashi. Left with no choice, Orochimaru turned around with a heart full of doubt, preparing to leave.

"When you return, use a Summoning Technique to send me a message. If I cannot come, I will have someone fetch you. Manage your own time."

She gave Kakashi a reassuring look.

"Oh right, Teacher, that suspicious person near the village by the holy land that you mentioned before—I remembered. He should be a bounty hunter from the black market; if we can capture him, he should be worth a fair bit of money." Kakashi dropped a seemingly random remark to Orochimaru. Understanding in a flash, Orochimaru nodded.